Scary Stuff on the Printed and Digital Page

Format: NOOKbook Publisher: Prime Books Publication Year: 2010 Every time I read something by David Schow I get the impression he is trying desperately to impress the reader with his flashy prose and vocabulary. In this case the very title of the story “Obsequy” (a funeral rite or ceremony) sent me scrambling for the dictionary. … Continue reading »

For “Zora and the Zombie,” author Andy Duncan eschews the Romero style zombie for the more traditional Hatian type. Duncan presents a fictionalized version of real-life author Zora Neale Hurston as she travels Haiti researching local legends including voodoo and zombies. During a voodoo ritual she finds less than convincing, Zora is told of a … Continue reading »

Max Brooks is, of course, the author of the bestselling books World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, and The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. Combine this with the fact that his father Mel Brooks wrote and directed Young Frankenstein, and you see why this guy has some … Continue reading »

“Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed” by Steve Duffy is a tale of zombies on the high seas. Three buddies, one with girlfriend in tow, take the fishing vessel Katie Mae out for an after dark cruise, seeking a secluded spot to down some beers and fire up a few joints. The party is interrupted when they … Continue reading »

Format: NOOKbook Publisher: Prime Books Publication Year: 2010 “Dating Secrets of the Dead” by David Prill was a learning experience for me. It taught me that there’s a horror sub-sub-genre that I’m not particularly fond of: zombie romance. Maybe I’m just being old fashioned about this but vampires don’t sparkle and zombies don’t go a … Continue reading »

Format: NOOKbook Publisher: Prime Books Publication Year: 2010 When you’re a kid a lot of things are scary, so by telling his story “Naming of Parts” from the perspective of a 12-year-old named Jack, Lebbon reminds the reader how disturbing things that go bump in the night can be for a pre-teen. Jack lives in … Continue reading »

Format: NOOKbook Publisher: Prime Books Publication Year: 2010 The pace slows down a little for “The Things He Said” by Michael Marshall Smith. Again, this is an author I’m not familiar with but the story is worth your time. Our nameless narrator recalls a few sparse words of advice his father imparted upon him and … Continue reading »

Format: NOOKbook Publisher: Prime Books Publication Year: 2010 In his introduction to this anthology of zombie stories David J. Schow, like so many before him, goes on about the symbolism and inner meaning of George Romero’s zombie films. Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead are two of the greatest horror films … Continue reading »

Format: NOOKBook Publisher: Permuted Press Publication Year: 2010 I discovered this fun little super hero/zombie mash up novel when author Peter Clines was interviewed on the Pod of Horror podcast. His inspiration sprang from his disappointment with the Marvel Zombies series of graphic novels. He didn’t like the idea of the heroes becoming zombies but … Continue reading »